PBSO: Man eager to ‘build’ teen up threw him to ground

A 28-year-old suburban West Palm Beach man was arrested Thursday in connection with an alleged physical attack on a teenager in which a witness said he slammed the boy to the ground.

Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies charged James J. Henderson with one count of child abuse. He was taken into custody shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday after deputies conducted a welfare check at an unspecified apartment address in suburban West Palm Beach. He was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on Friday after posting $3,000 bail.

While being questioned about the alleged abuse, Henderson allegedly told deputies the teen was having disciplinary issues and he was “trying to break him down in order to build him back up.”

He denied abusing the teen. The report does not specify the relationship between the teen and Henderson. According to the report, Henderson works as a pharmacy technician in the Jupiter area.

A security guard told deputies that Henderson on Tuesday picked up the teen and slammed him to the ground. He then knocked the teen to the ground as he attempted to stand up, the security guard told deputies. The security guard showed surveillance footage of the incident, the report said.

A neighbor told deputies that Henderson beat the teen and made him do “suicides,” an intense form of physical exercise.